I'm a Chicago actor who wants to enjoy life with more love, inspiration, and play. Wanna join me?

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Stop Waiting To Be Happy

Let’s talk about goals again. The more we talk about them, the more quickly we’re going to achieve them. (I know, right?)

For more on goal setting, feel free to check out Mindy Wender’s #21DaystoThrive video series! I’m on Day 12 right now. Love it.

Sometimes we encounter lots of negativity before we reach our goals. What I didn’t know until recently is that we’re allowed to be happy before we reach our destination. We can (and should) enjoy the journey too.

Now let’s say you’re hearing this concept for the first time. It might sound difficult or scary. To help get you started, I want you to think about what might happen if you don’t develop this mindset. Here are some common scenarios this particularly applies to:

Weight loss: Whether you’re looking to lose ten pounds or fifty, you’re on track towards something awesome. That something awesome is going to take some time. Do you really want to wait to be happy until you’ve lost each and every pound you’re aiming for? Start with being happy that you simply want to lose weight. Keep it up and you’ll be smiling before you’re even half way there.

Booking that acting job that would change your life forever: There are a handful of gigs I’d love to get my hands on – some of which I’ve auditioned for. Had any been offered to me, my life would be quite different right now. (Let’s not even talk about the pay). Wanna know something neat though? For each opportunity I don’t get, another one shows up in its place. These are usually new opportunities that I didn’t know about prior. They’re out there. Keep your eyes open.

Dating: Humor me for a second: Picture your friend (because we all have one of them) who has met up with you for coffee. They quickly launch into how much it sucks being single and how marriage is “never gonna happen.” What if their Prince Charming was sitting tables away? I mean, I’m not a prince, but I’m willing to bet he’s not attracted to bitching and negativity. In this scenario, waiting to be happy hurts for two reasons: 1) Again, this could be a long wait. Why hurt yourself and your happiness in the meantime? 2) The best way to attract the love of your life is by being happy, confident, and positive. Being negative isn’t going to bring your soul male towards you.

(If you know of a rare exception…..keep it to yourself. I have people to impress here)

“But Tony, this is a difficult and scary way of thinking! How am I just supposed to switch things up?”

First off, relax. You don’t have to be perfect. There’s actually a pumpkin sitting on my desk (because who doesn’t love pumpkins?) that says “#progressnotperfection” on it. Each time I see it, I’m reminded how it’s okay not to be perfect. Making progress is good enough.

Second, how about appreciating the fact that you can enjoy yourself? Right. Now. You don’t have to wait. Let’s focus on what we get out of this – not what we have to do differently.

Now if you’ll excuse me. I need to post this. There were lots of girls at Starbucks yesterday who undoubtedly noticed my positive self and want to read this. Besides, I had a tie on. They should be calling any minute.